The One That Got Away
by Horribleness
Summary: The three times Billy didn’t tell Penny that he loved her...and the one time that he did. Billy/Penny


Title: The One That Got Away

Fandom: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blo

Word Count: 1601

Rating: PG

Summary: The three times Billy didn't tell Penny that he loved her...and the one time that he did.

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

Notes: So, these events are spread out through all three acts of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. They are meant to be read as separate events, not as events that happened one after the other. This is my first experience writing a story in this sort of format, so my apologies if it's not extremely clear. It's something I'm just experimenting with. Obviously I'm not quoting the show word for word and some things were tweaked to fit the fic better. Title comes from the song _Leave_ by Glen Hansard.

**One.**

The first time he saw her was unexpected to say the very least. He had been coming to this Coin Wash ever since his move to the city and Billy had never seen anyone like her before. Although, his opinion probably didn't mean much since, throughout the course of his life so far, he had never really had a serious girlfriend. And maybe that was a little sad, but his work had always pushed itself to the forefront. The life of a budding villain was busy, and relationships took time and attention, and those were things that Billy just had not had. Honestly, he had never really thought that he would be able to have any sort of relationship with anyone, but this new girl...she had the potential to change all of that.

He had been standing in the doorway for a few moments now, just staring at the beautiful redhead across the way from him. His breath caught in his throat and he found that his heart was pounding painfully in his chest. He had never been this nervous in his life, never. Not even during the climax of _Return of the Jedi_. Oh, no. This was much, much worse.

People were grumbling now, pushing him out of their way, shoving him roughly aside. It was only until he nearly fell over that he was restored to somewhat functional thought. He hadn't been hurt, but his laundry had not been so lucky. The basket had flown out of his hands and his clothes were now sprawled everywhere. Billy could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks as he quickly bent down and stuffed the rest of his clothes carelessly back into their basket.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the girl making her way towards him, looking concerned. No, no, no. That was bad. He couldn't talk to her. What would he say? Would she think he was stupid? Of course she would. After all, he had just dropped his laundry basket. Who did that? No, this was bad. Terrible. He could not stay here. Laundry could wait.

"Oh my gosh, are you all right?"

He stood up and whirled around to face her. Billy gasped involuntarily. She was even more beautiful up close. His mouth was dry again, his brain had suddenly gone fuzzy. Billy opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was incoherent mumbling. The only word he could manage was a nervous sounding, "Fine." His eyes went wide and the girl continued to look concerned.

"You sure? Because-"

Billy cut her off, he just had to get out of here before he said something stupid and she thought him even more of an idiot. "I- uh- need...uh, leave."

And with that, he was out the door. Leaning against the wall of the Coin Wash, Billy took a few deep breaths, stood there for a few minutes, and glanced in through the glass window at the redhead. She had her cell phone to her ear. He could faintly hear her voice. "Hey mom, it's me, Penny."

"Penny." he breathed, looking away from the window. Everything about her was perfect. She was perfect. She was Penny.

**Two.**

So far, everything had gone off without a hitch. Stealing the wonderflonium would be just the thing to complete his freeze ray, and on top of that, it would most definitely secure him a spot in the Evil League of Evil. He had told Moist that the heist would be easy, like taking candy from a baby, and he hadn't been lying. With luck, he'd just stand here in his hoodie and jeans, get the van hooked up to his remote, take the wonderflonium and be done with it.

Billy grinned to himself as he directed the van, watching all of the parts of his plan slowly come together. Nothing could ruin this. Nothing.

"_Will you lend a caring ha-_?""

Nothing except that. He whipped around to find Penny behind him. No. She couldn't be here, not now. But he had never talked to her before, and he couldn't just ignore her. What would she think of him then? He had to stay on Penny's good side. So, he humored her, listened to her little spiel and signed her petition.

It was almost unbearable, standing this close to her. But he wouldn't let that show. The odds of Penny sharing his feelings were not good at all. She couldn't know how he felt, and risk having her think that he was completely psycho.

She was smiling at him, so he smiled back nervously. Part of him wondered if he should say something to her. But what would be appropriate? He didn't know. Then again, he wasn't that experienced with girls in the first place, so he really wouldn't know what to say anyway. Then again, maybe this was the moment. The time that he would finally talk to her. He had been watching her for weeks now, so maybe this was the right moment to tell her how he felt. "I-" he began.

And then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted it. The wonderflonium was being carried out to the van. Now was not a good time for the two of them to talk. There was, admittedly, a lot that he wanted to say. But he couldn't. Not now. And before he could do anything about it, she had gone.

**Three.**

Penny was dating Captain Hammer now. Ugh. Just the thought of the two of them together made Billy feel sick. What was even worse was that he considered himself to be cause of the whole thing. On, the bright side though, if it really even deserved to be called that, he and Penny were finally talking. Having real conversations. This was the sort of thing that he had thought about for as long as he could remember...only now, it was way too late for anything real to happen between them.

And yet, Billy had hope for them. Surely he wasn't the only one who saw what was really beneath all of the glamour and allure that was Captain Hammer. Penny even had said that she thought that he was cheesy at first. But, being Penny, she had looked past all of that. Given him a 'chance'. But maybe, just maybe, Billy would be able to make her see what a tool he really was. And she would finally realize how much better she would be were she with Billy. He would treat her so much better than Captain Hammer had or ever would.

Penny was smart, he knew. How could she be so into a guy whose name she didn't even know? There was nothing more to him than the superhero persona that he put out to the public. He was a shallow jerk; that was all there was to it. And he wasn't really even that great of a superhero. Maybe Billy was just jealous and bitter, and that was the only reason he felt such animosity towards Captain Hammer.

Nah. Captain Hammer was most definitely a tool.

And still, it amazed Billy how Penny seemed to care so much for him. Even though he was currently telling about his not getting accepted into the ELE, without actually telling her, of course. And here she was comforting him.

"_So, keep your head up Billy, buddy_." An awkward...almost kiss? "It's like Captain Hammer's always saying-"

"Right." Billy nodded. He swallowed hard. Maybe now would be the time to tell her. But she was happy with Captain Hammer, wasn't she? "How are things with cheesy on the outside?"

"It's good. Things are good. He's...nice."

Nice? He was _nice_? No. He couldn't tell her. Not now. Now was most definitely not the time. Maybe another day, he would finally have the courage.

**Four.**

She was gone. It was too late now. Penny, the girl that he had been so close to (although at the same time, also so far away from) being happy with her, was lost to him. And he'd never told her how he felt. Penny was gone and it was all his fault. If he'd only worked harder on the freeze ray...or better yet, not have come at all, just let everyone be, tried some other way to impress the ELE, then maybe she would still be alive. But there was nothing he could do now.

"Dr. Horrible! Dr. Horrible! Why'd you kill her?"

Kill Penny? No, not he hadn't killed her. He hadn't meant for her to get hurt. She was the last person that he...

He couldn't think. And the flashbulbs going off in his face were quickly making Penny's passing seem like something with no value. Something that didn't matter. She was just a story to these people. This all seemed so surreal, like a horrible nightmare. Billy knew that he would never forget this, no matter how hard he tried. Sure, this was good for Dr. Horrible, but inside, it was tearing Billy apart. Inside his heart felt as though it had been ripped into a million tiny pieces. He had loved Penny. If she had felt anything for him, he would never know. And that was almost too much.

And as he set her down on the cloth covered stretcher, he knew that this was the last that he would ever see of Penny after this it was over. And she would really be gone. For a split second, he held her still warm body close and whispered into her ear, "I love you."


End file.
